From: Joe Garrett (j.garrett@verizon.net)
Date: Wed Nov 10 2004 - 07:11:41 PST
Where in the truck driver's manual does it say "wait until you are going so
fast that you will glaze your brakes, and then jam the transmission into a
lower gear"? Do those "HILL-trucks-use-lower-gear have fine print on them
that says the same thing?
The company I worked for that had the
"use-your-brakes-to-slow-down,-not-your-transmission" policy was ARA
Transportation. At that time they were the largest school bus contractor in
the world. The same company is now Laidlaw Student Transportation. They
employ only professional drivers (tens of thousands of them), not weekend
drivers. They didn't want broken clutch disk springs, over revved engines,
twisted driveshafts, or busloads of kids piles up in ditches (and I have
seen all of these things). They wanted their drivers to plan ahead and to
think through what they were doing. If a bus was to descend a steep grade
into a curve that led into a 20 mph school zone, the driver had better have
a better strategy than jam it into 3rd and let'er scream.
John T, I have clipped what I posted so that you can actually READ it. The
key words are "bus, employer, policy and don't". I was more than just a
Driver Trainer for these people. Once I got my MBA at University of Oregon,
I returned to work for them in management. While I do drive on weekends, I
think I have driven commercially long enough to express my opinion
occasionally. There is a language element here called a "sweeping
generalization" that is intended to invoke a smile. The exchange between
apb and me was intended to elicit a laugh, not a diatribe.
Joe Garrett
----- Original Message -----
From: "Joe Garrett" <j.garrett@verizon.net>
To: "Military Vehicles Mailing List" <mil-veh@mil-veh.org>
Sent: Tuesday, November 09, 2004 12:02 AM
Subject: Re: [MV] M35 Exhaust Brake installation
> Actually the policy on downshifting was "don't".
>
> Joe Garrett
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Joe Garrett" <j.garrett@verizon.net>
> To: "Military Vehicles Mailing List" <mil-veh@mil-veh.org>
> Sent: Monday, November 08, 2004 8:53 PM
> Subject: Re: [MV] M35 Exhaust Brake installation
>
>
> >
> > When I was driving a bus, my employer had a policy about downshifting to
> > slow down. Brake linings are a lot cheaper than engines. This would
seem
> > to apply here, too.
> >
> > Joe Garrett
> >
> >
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